Cyclones, Bulldogs Give It One More Shot

AMES, Iowa – The weather has had it in for the Cyclones (21-30, 4-11 Big 12) and Bulldogs (25-17, 11-5 MVC), pushing back the teams’ Des Moines meeting three time this season, but things are looking good for Iowa State’s plans to travel to Buel Field on Tuesday, May 7.

Originally scheduled for March 26, the Des Moines contest has been pushed back to the last week of the regular season due to prolonged winter and rainy weather this season, although the teams did face each other in Ames last month.

Iowa State took the first game of the home-and-home series, 6-5, on the back of Aly Cappaert’s two-run home run in the fifth inning. Senior Erica Miller also drove in two runs in the game to break the Iowa State single-season RBI record, and Brittany Gomez went 3-for-4 at the plate.

Tori Torrescano threw a complete game in the circle for Iowa State against Drake, allowing three earned runs while collecting a season-high six strikeouts.

For the Bulldogs, Nicole Randel and Laura Brewer each drove in two runs and senior Macie Silliman had three of Drake’s nine hits against Torrescano.

Entering Tuesday’s contest, the Bulldogs have been rained or snowed out of their last five games, not playing since defeating Creighton on April 30. Tuesday night’s game against the Cyclones will be the final home game of the season for Drake.

First pitch at Buel Field is set for 7 p.m. CDT.

Cyclone Notebook• After a weekend off, the Cyclones return to action on Tuesday against Drake at 7 p.m. CDT.• Tuesday is the third reschedule of the Des Moines meeting due to weather issues this season.• The Cyclones last played at Iowa last Wednesday, falling, 8-3.• Seven of the 11 runs scored in the Iowa game came with two outs, including each of Iowa State’s three runs (only two credited with RBI). The team has 94 two-out RBI this season, accounting for 39 percent of its RBI total of 241.• Erica Miller walked against the Hawkeyes last week, tying Tori Torrescano with a record 28 walks this season.• Miller and Sara Davison, who also walked against Iowa, have 63 career base-on-balls, two of five Cyclones to ever earn 60 walks in a career.• Torrescano and Davison each doubled in the Cy-Hawk series game, bringing the team total to 67, the highest total since the 1988 squad set the record with 72 doubles.• Four Cyclones have 10 or more doubles this season: Miller, Jorden Spedlove and Torrescano each have 11 and Maddie Reese has 10.• Sarah Hawryluk, Brittany Gomez and Reese each have more than 10 stolen bases this season, making 2013 the first season since 2010 that three Cyclones have reached 10 steals in the same season. Gomez owns the Iowa State record with 28 steals on the year and Hawryluk has 26 and Reese is a perfect 11-for-11 in stolen base attempts.• In her freshman season, Gomez already ranks in the top-10 all-time at Iowa State in stolen bases.• Gomez has also broken the program record for runs scored, crossing home 48 times this year.• Iowa State has hit 36 home runs this season, two shy of the program record.• As a team, the Cyclones are hitting .288 this season, the highest batting average in program history.• Over the last two seasons, Iowa State has struggled in pinch hitting situations, hitting .200 in 2012 and .038 in 2011. No player with multiple pinch hit at-bats has hit above .167 in either of those seasons. This season, Iowa State is hitting .314 in pinch hit at-bats and Liana Henry is 6-for-11 (.545) in pinch hitting appearances this season.• The Cyclones are 17-3 this season when tallying at least as many hits as their opponents.• The team is 17-3 when its foes score five or fewer runs and 19-3 when a game is tied or when the Cyclones lead after four innings.

Big 12 Notes and RankingsOn the season:• Brittany Gomez is eighth with 59 hits, third with 28 stolen bases and tied for third with 48 runs scored.• Tori Torrescano is tied for fifth in home runs (13), tied for ninth in RBI (42) and ninth in slugging (.660).• Sarah Hawryluk is tied for fourth with 26 stolen bases.• Erica Miller is tied for fourth with 50 RBI and is seventh with an OBP of .483.• Torrescano is among the top-10 pitchers in the league in wins (11, 9th), saves (2, T3rd), innings pitched (146.0, 7th), appearances (32, 7th), starts (24, T6th) and complete games (10, 7th).• Taylor Smith is also tied for third in the league with two saves this season, is 10th with 108.0 innings of work and is tied for eighth with 31 appearances.• Iowa State’s .964 fielding percentage is fifth in the league.In conference play:• Iowa State is fourth in hitting with a .247 average.• Miller is fifth with a .400 batting average, third in doubles with four, eighth with 12 RBI, fifth in on-base percentage (.533) and seventh in slugging (.600)• Hawryluk is seventh with five stolen bases.• Torrescano is first in doubles (5) and sixth with a slugging percentage of .615.• Maddie Reese is tied with Miller for third in doubles with four.• Eight Big 12 players have at least four doubles this season, three are from Iowa State (Torrescano, Reese and Miller).• Torrescano ranks in the top-10 in saves (1, T2nd) and starts (6, T9th)• Smith also has one save, is ninth with 34.2 innings of work and is tied for sixth with 11 appearances.• Freshman Riley Fisher is tied for sixth in the league with 11 appearances and is tied for seventh with seven starts.

Scouting Drake• Iowa State defeated Drake, 6-5, in Ames earlier this season.• Tori Torrescano threw a complete game against the Bulldogs, allowing three earned runs on nine hits while compiling a season-high six strikeouts.• Aly Cappaert hit her only home run of the season in the win, a two-run shot.• Brittany Gomez was 3-for-4 at the plate against Drake.• Nicole Randel and Laura Brewer each drove in two runs in the game. Randel was 1-for-3 with two RBI and a run while Brewer finished 2-for-3 with two RBI and a walk.

Cyclones Celebrate Senior Day May 12• Iowa State will recognize seniors Erica Miller and Tori Torrescano with an on-field ceremony on May 12 during the Cyclones’ final home game of the season. Miller and Torrescano are the most prolific players in Cyclone history, holding numerous program records.